1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recorded medium playback device for playing recorded media such as cassette tapes, compact disks, and the like and more particularly to a recorded medium playback device provided with a detachable panel member that contains a device operation section.
2. Prior Art
Generally, vehicle-mounted recorded medium playback devices such as car stereos, etc., are installed near the driver's seat; as a result, the area allowed for the operating panel of the playback devices is extremely limited. In this limited area, an operating/control circuit and a display circuit, as well as operating/control and display circuits for the radio tuner function, etc. are installed in addition to an insertion opening (slot) for recorded media such as cassette tapes and compact disks (hereafter collectively referred to as "CD's").
Accordingly, in some recorded medium playback devices, an operating section and a display which displays the operating states of various functions, etc., are installed on a front cover which closes the recorded medium insertion slot, thus increasing the area that can be used for the installation of various parts of the playback device.
Such recorded medium playback devices are often pulled out of the console panel and stolen when the driver is absent from the vehicle. In the past, devices have been proposed which include a detachment mechanism for allowing the front cover to be detached from the main body of the device. One example of such a recorded medium playback device (a CD player) is shown in FIGS. 10 and 11.
In FIG. 10, the main body 1 of the CD player is detachably installed in an accommodating space formed in the dashboard of a vehicle. An inner escutcheon 2 formed on the front face of the main body 1 is exposed to the outside of the accommodating space, and an insertion opening 3 into which a CD is inserted is formed in the inner escutcheon 2. In addition, a panel member 4 which covers the insertion opening 3 is disposed on the main body 1.
Although not shown in FIG. 10, an operating section, which includes an ON/OFF switch that controls the power supply and various operating switches that are used for the playback operation of a CD, and a display screen, which displays the operating state according to various operations, are installed on the front surface of the panel member 4.
A panel holder 5 is formed on the inner side of the panel member 4. The panel holder 5 is a rectangular steel plate and is pivotally attached (at one end with respect to the direction of the shorter side thereof) to a support pin 7 which is fastened to the lower portion of the inner escutcheon 2 via a bracket 6, so that the panel holder 5 covers the entire face of the inner escutcheon 2 located below the insertion opening 3. The panel member 4, on the other hand, is a hollow rectangular housing which is made of, for instance, plastic and is attached to the panel holder 5 in a detachable manner.
As shown in FIG. 11, the main body 1 of the recorded medium playback device includes a CD mechanism part 8 which takes in and plays back a CD inserted through the insertion opening 3 and a mother board 9 on which a control circuit for the recorded medium playback device is installed.
In the recorded medium playback device of the panel dismountable type, the operating section installed on the panel member 4 needs to be electrically connected to the mother board 9.
Accordingly, a connector 11 is employed for this purpose. The connector 11 is mounted on the panel holder 5 and is connected to the mother board 9 and to a connector (not shown) installed on the panel member 4. The connector 11 is connected to the mother board 9 by a flexible cable (or lead wires) 10.
When the panel member 4 is removed from the panel holder 5, in other words, when the connector on the panel member 4 and the connector 11 on the panel holder 5 are electrically separated, the power supply is switched off; and when the panel member 4 is put back on the panel holder 5, the power is supplied to the panel member 4 via the connector 11.
However, in the conventional recorded medium playback device described above, a flexible cable 10 and other similar parts are required in order to connect the connector 11 to the mother board 9. This causes an increase in the cost of required parts. Furthermore, as seen from FIG. 11, a space is necessary for installing the flexible cable 10 and other parts. Accordingly, the layout of the CD mechanism part 8 tends to be restricted. Furthermore, the depth dimension of the main body 1 tends to increase by an amount that corresponds to the space required for the flexible cable 10, etc.